'Selfish' revellers who turn up at A&E could be placed in 'drunk tanks', according to NHS proposals

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“Selfish” revellers who turn up to A&E departments just to sober up may be put in ‘drunk tanks’ under NHS proposals set to be rolled out nationally in the new year.

Under the plans, patients who arrive on wards intoxicated would be placed in specialist rooms under the supervision of a nurse, freeing up more resources for serious injuries and emergencies.

Commenting on the proposals, NHS England chief executive, Simon Stevens, said that drunk revellers were being “frankly selfish” by using the health service at a time when emergency departments are under intense pressure.

“NHS doesn’t stand for ‘National Hangover Service’”, he added. “But in the run up to Christmas, having been out with ambulance crews on night shifts...I’ve seen first hand how paramedics and A&Es are being called on to deal with drunk and often aggressive people.”

The tanks, known as Alcohol Intoxication Management Services (AIMS) are already being used by a number of local authorities in order to ease growing pressure on the health service.

They are often fitted with of seats and recliner beds in order for revellers to sleep off the worst effects of their hangover.

Clubbers enjoy boxing day in Newcastle

Medical staff manning the centres also are equipped with IV drips, pumps and defibrillators to treat patients who are dangerously inebriated.

The plans come amid growing concern over Britain’s binge-drinking culture, with alcohol intoxication now responsible for 12-15 percent of all A&E attendances in England, according to the NHS.

The strain on emergency wards intensifies on Friday and Saturday evenings, while 70 percent of attendances over the Christmas period are believed to be alcohol related.

Drunk tanks are already widely used across Eastern Europe, including in the Czech Republic and Poland, where hundreds of thousands of people are treated in satellite centres in cities and town centres.

The NHS said the decision on whether to order a national rollout in 2018 would hinge on the performance of A&E departments over the new year.

“When the health service is pulling out all the stops to care for sick and vulnerable patients who rightly and genuinely need our support, it’s frankly selfish when ambulance crews, paramedics and A&E nurses have to be diverted to looking after revellers who have overindulged and who just need somewhere to safely sleep it off.”

It comes two years after the UK’s first mobile drunk tank was launched in Bristol, in a joint venture between the police, ambulance service and local hospitals.

The £5.5m Alcohol Recovery Centre (ARC), a 65ft vehicle, can treat up to 11 people at a time, and is helping to keep more than a dozen people out of A&E or police cells over an average weekend.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is also carrying out a study looking at whether drunk tanks are a viable alternative for treating intoxicated patients.